I am back from a long weekend, which explains my lack of posts on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It also explains why I woke up at 11:00 this morning for the first time since college. Speaking of college, I attended three football games in a 24-hour span.
I saw the UMass – Michigan game in Ann Arbor, we then made the hour drive to East Lansing and saw the Notre Dame – Michigan St. game, and then I flew back to New York yesterday morning to see the Patriots – Jets game. That’s right, I am a bad ass. Not really, at 33, that was stretching my limitations.
I will say this. I loved Ann Arbor and Michigan Stadium, 100 percent class all the way. Tailgating was great and we met a group that was serving up wild boar sausages that one of the guys killed himself with a bow and arrow. Now that’s bad ass!
Michigan State was a disaster. What a dump of a stadium. Garbage everywhere, seating is terrible, and a quarter of the crowd left in the third quarter with the game tied against Notre Dame. Terrible performance on their part.
Now on to baseball and some of the stories from this past weekend.
Mattingly will take over for Torre next year
Don Mattingly Will Take Over For Joe Torre
This was “Breaking news” on Friday afternoon, but really wasn’t. This has been known for awhile, as Mattingly will take over for Torre at the start of the 2011 season.
Mattingly, who has never managed a day in his life at the Major League level, will only be as good as the Los Angeles Dodgers ownership allows him to be. If the ownership situation is still a clown show this offseason and going into the season, then the Dodgers will be mediocre like they are this year.
In the back of my mind, I get the feeling that this is Mattingly’s audition for a future job with the New York Yankees.
As for Torre, I believe he will manage again. I just think he was fed up with everything going on behind the scenes with ownership. The logical choice would be with the New York Mets, but I don’t think the Mets will cough up the money to pay Torre what he wants.
Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays Continue To Battle In the AL East
The Yankees and the Rays continue battle it out in the AL East. With the Boston Red Sox done in 2010, both of these teams will make the playoffs.
However, I think it is very important for the Rays to win the division. One of the reasons they beat the Red Sox in the ALCS in 2008 was because they had Game 7 at home. I think they will need the same advantage against either Yankees or the Texas Rangers in the ALCS if they get there.
The Yankees and Rays will play a four game set starting today. My guess is that the two teams will split, and the division crown won’t be decided to the final weekend of the season.
Tyler Colvin Gets Punctured With a Broken Bat
A very scary moment happened yesterday in the Chicago Cubs – Florida Marlins’ game. Tyler Colvin was hit with a broken bat in the chest when was trying to score off a ball hit by Welington Castillo.
The scary part about this was that Colvin wasn’t even looking when the bat hit him in the chest. He was watching the ball go to the outfield. If that bat came up a little higher, it could have even been worse.
Colvin was sent to the hospital and had a tube inserted into his chest to allow air to flow and prevent his lung from collapsing. It’s being reported that Colvin is okay, but the Cubs will shut him down for the season.
With the amount of bats that get broken in a Major League game, I can’t believe this doesn’t happen more often.
You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com